Tyre, Lebanon – The beefed-up peacekeeping force in Lebanon began to take shape Saturday as 1,000 Italian soldiers started moving in, the first big contingent of international troops sent to help safeguard a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
With Israel apparently racing to destroy Hezbollah arms caches ahead of its impending withdrawal, the U.N. force commander said the truce is still “fragile” and warned that any incident could quickly escalate.
The deployment of the peacekeepers has been delayed since the cease-fire began Aug. 14, in part because it took time to hammer out details over the troops’ mandate and persuade hesitant countries to offer troops for what was seen as a potentially risky mission: getting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The full 15,000-member force has not been assembled yet, but with several major Europeans countries on board, more pledges were coming in.
Mainly Muslim Indonesia said it will send up to 1,000 soldiers by month’s end after Israel dropped objections to its participation in the force. The U.S., Europe and Israel have been eager to have Muslim troops among the peacekeepers to show it is not a solely Christian force, but Israel had opposed Indonesia’s participation because it does not have relations with the Jewish state.
Turkey’s prime minister, meanwhile, was trying to ensure that parliament approves his government’s promise to send troops amid strong public opposition. Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured Turks the soldiers would not be disarming Hezbollah militants.
“When such a thing is requested from our soldiers, then we will withdraw our soldiers,” Erdogan said Saturday.
The peacekeepers – along with 15,000 Lebanese troops moving into the south – will ensure a buffer zone along the Israeli-Lebanese border is free of open Hezbollah fighters and arms, up to the Litani River about 18 miles to the north.
